👉 This one centers around the Clean + Press.
👉 And this one is actually a whole year’s worth of Specialized Variety.
Do you ever feel like your workouts are boring?
And perhaps you need something “more exciting?”
If so, that’s a very common problem and in this email, we’re going to fix it.
In fact, I was just on a call with a private client on Monday and we were covering this same topic.
For him, it was about doing his restoration work vs. his kettlebell work.
His kettlebell work is way more exciting and because of that, he was having a hard time doing his restoration work because it was “boring” in relation to the KB work.
So, let’s start where he and I started:
1- PURPOSE
What is the “purpose” of your training?
Get stronger?
Get leaner?
Get rid of aches and pains?
Notice how each of these 3 things - along with any other outcome / goal is a DESTINATION.
In the case of those 3 destinations, once you reach them, you’ll feel like you’ve accomplished something - because you have.
2- PROCESS
Each outcome… goal… destination… has a process…
Procedures that you follow, like directions to get from here to there - where you live, to the other side of your country…
From San Francisco to New York City for example.
There are several routes - all of them head from west to east.
The one you take is dependent on how fast you want to get there.
And of course the vehicle you want to use - your feet, bicycle, car, plane - walk, bike, drive, fly.
(And of course each vehicle has a price correlation - the faster you get there, the more it usually costs financially, and vice versa.)
Workouts - Training programs are no different.
3- PARADIGM
A paradigm is your view on something.
Now that we’ve been reminded that workouts are for a particular purpose - goal achievement…
We need to change our paradigm - our view of them - our frame of reference.
If workouts are to be “entertained” - which is what we’re really saying when we’re saying “these workouts are boring…”
Then we’ve lost perspective of their purpose.
I told my client that if his workouts were boring, then he was missing the whole point of them.
This gets us back to the purpose.
Their purpose is to achieve a goal.
I also told him what I’ve been telling people for the last 2 decades:
If your workouts are boring, your life is likely lacking true entertainment and you need to go find that apart from your workouts.
Examples would be a hobby or a sport - stamp collecting, hiking… That sort of thing.
And this is why so many people look the same year after year after year…
They bounce from workout plan to workout plan - never finishing - and end up with nothing to show for it because they’ve lost sight of the purpose of that plan -
To achieve their stated goal.
And to me, that’s the very definition of boring -
Doing the same durn thing and never having anything to show for it.
This making sense so far?
I hope so.
So, what’s the easiest way to “alleviate” boredom in your workouts (besides finding a hobby or sport or activity)?
Use Specialized Variety.
What’s that?
Simple.
It’s variations of the same exercise.
Let’s take the Press for example…
You have the -
Single KB Press
Double KB Press
Single KB Push Press
Double KB Push Press
Single KB Bottoms Up Press
Double KB Bottoms Up Press
Kneeling Single KB Press
Kneeling Double KB Press
Half Kneeling Single KB Press
Half Kneeling Double KB Press
Single KB V-Sit Press
Double KB V-Sit Press
Each one of those has its own advantages and limitations, but it’s all overhead work that overloads the upper body musculature in the vertical plane.
Make sense?
Good.
Now, next time you feel bored in your workouts, remember the purpose of your program - to get you to your goal.
Worst case scenario, throw on some better music.
Stay Strong,
Geoff
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